C8217 Sport Power control malfunction suspected short.

[Martin-345304]

Switch blue button on the power supply to left (16V) plug in one hand controller sends power to both cars, which run slower than normal. Plug in 2 controllers and both cars struggle to move.

Switch blue button to right (16V/16V) and power only goes to inside lane which runs fine. No power to outside lane at all.

Has anyone ever encountered this problem before?

[Martin-345304]

Ok think I may have solved this problem myself. I had made up the biggest track I could with all the bits I had, which included 2 extra long straights with C8545 power controllers attached to them. These were not plugged into the mains. When I took these 2 pieces of track out of the circuit the C8217 power supply worked as it should. I can only assume that the electric current was coming off the track and passing through one or both of the C8545 power supplies causing the problem described. To save myself the cost of buying 2 of those straights I'm going to remove the power units from those bits, only a couple of small screw by the look of it.

[Andy P.]

I never put more than one powerbas piece in any layout regardless if they have power or not.

It is easy though to open them up and remove all the connections and use them as standard track...

[Martin-345304]

I never put more than one powerbas piece in any layout regardless if they have power or not.

It is easy though to open them up and remove all the connections and use them as standard track...

 

 

[Martin-345304]

Thanks for the info, I'll try that before I remove the power units completely.

[Andy P.]

Shorting is all about trouble shooting and narrowing down the possibilities...

:-)

Let us know how you get on...

Oh and thanks for the thanks!

I have been doing this for almost 10 years on a voluntary basis rarely get good comments.. :_)

[Martin-345304]

Finally got to lay my track today after adding a lap timer to my original design and finding I needed an extra half track to make it all connect up. Removed the old power units from the long straights and now everything works as it should. Managed to get just over 18m of track without any crossovers in the space I had availablethumbsup. That'll do for starters whilst I set about servicing and cleaning the cars. Problem with my layout is that it butts very close to wardrobes and walls, so any high speed "offs" on a corner could mean sticky tape and glue time. I'll probably re design at some point with crossovers to compact it a bit so I can get extra space around the outside for some safety pillows to absorb the impacts.

[Andy P.]

There are other brands (SCX, Ninco) that make guard rails that clip directly onto the track that can help.

Ninco even made high walled fences that I use on the edge of my table layout.

There are also legacy/classic Scalextric guard rails and barriers as well as the "barrier and clip" set that can usually be bought fairly easily.

Cheapest option is using hot glue (it can be removed with alcohol later) and glue foam rubber or cardboard directly to the edge of the track.

I use hot glue on elevated section as well sometimes...

 

[Tedsterrr]

Ill take the inside lane every time and win